Angels
by hedgehogsandangels
Summary: A compilation of short stories from the point of view of several of Cas's brothers and sisters. Each tells about Castiel or the Winchesters and various misadventures had and almost had. They begin with relatively unknown angels all the way up to Michael and Lucifer in later chapters.
1. Leliel and the Nightmares

Leliel

I used to have nightmares when I was a child. I'd wake up crying and one of my brothers would come to me every time. Gabriel usually.

When I had nightmares, he would come to my room and I'd crawl into his lap and he'd tell me a story to calm me down. Then he'd tuck me in and go back to bed. When I was the human equivalent of five years old, I saw Michael talking to Gabriel in the hall one day. He looked cold and stern. Gabriel nodded and listened and then came in my direction while Michael went the other way.

I jumped out and grabbed his leg, he flipped me over his head and carried me around, laughing.

He didn't come to my rescue that night, Michael did.

Michael wasn't like Gabriel.

Gabriel was kind and laughed a lot and made jokes all the time.

Michael was the oldest, logical, cold, and calculating.

Michael came into my room and told me that the nightmares were from humans. I needed to learn to control them then he left. The nightmares didn't go away and they got worse.

I usually saw faceless ghosts and unknown monsters killing strangers but I started seeing my own family destroying themselves. These nightmares were my own.

One night, I woke up and cried for a long time. I cried until the door opened and I looked up expecting Michael to come in angry but instead Castiel was there. I sniffled. He sat down on the bed and hugged me.

"I want to show you something." He whispered. I nodded and he held my hand to lead me into the main hall where the statues of the angels were. I remembered Lucifer walking me down the hall and, if I could name every one, he'd give me a sweet or promise to play a game. Remembering the names of my hundreds of brothers and sisters was difficult so I practiced every day.

Castiel walked me down the hall until we reached the last few statues. I was near the end. There were a handful of statues after me but not many.

"Read it." He said, pointing to the plaque below my statue. I bent down and read it.

"Leliel, angel of dreams and nightmares."

"That means you have the power to control dreams and nightmares. Not just your own but everyone's. You need to learn to use your power."

"But I don't know how!" I sniffled again and he smiled, kneeling so he was at eye level with me.

"But you will learn. You just have to try to be brave." I nodded and he picked me up and carried me back to my room.


	2. The Fall of Omias

Omias

The earth is very small.

The humans don't seem to see it that way but they're stupid.

My brothers might call that blasphemy. But what do I care?

Humans are stupid. They're hateful mud-rats who seem to like killing each other.

I would never tell my brothers this because that runs the risk of joining Lucifer in hell. He knew how I felt and I knew how he felt.

I escaped the first fall by begging Michael's forgiveness, cursing my brother's name, and agreeing that he should be punished for his insolence. Michael bought it but I remember the way Castiel looked sideways at me that day.

He never stopped looking sideways at me until the day I fell.

It was a long time after the rebellion and Lucifer's fall. There were seven billion four hundred eighteen million nine hundred and fifty three thousand eight hundred and seventy seven humans on the earth.

I was watching them. Just thinking and feeling sick to my stomach as I watched the earth turning black and dying before my eyes.

"What is wrong, Omias? You look ill." Michael stood beside me.

"The earth needs healing." I said. "There are many dying parts of it."

"That is Ariel's duty. Do not worry about it. Have you practiced your transformations today?"

"Yes, Michael."

"Show me." I faced him and transformed into a leopard, then an ant, a cat, an elephant, and a bird then back to myself. "Have you practiced people yet?" I shivered involuntarily and then I knew he was testing me. I transformed into a human and kept the look of disgust off my face. He was tall for one of them, with blond hair and brown eyes. Humans might have even thought him to be handsome. I turned back to myself.

"I have practiced, Michael. May I go?" But Michael just blinked at me suspiciously. I scurried away like a rat.

"Disgusting," I muttered, "mud-rats and murderers." I kept muttering to myself until I crashed into Castiel. He'd heard me, it was too late. He didn't say anything but reached down and lifted me up by the front of my shirt.

I was smaller than him.

My feet kicked out wildly and my wings flailed in a vain attempt to gain some purchase in the air. I grabbed his hand and started begging.

"Please, Castiel, don't tell Michael! Please, please!"

"It's too late for that Omias. You escaped the first fall but it is time for you to go where you belong." He carried me to Michael's court and threw me to the floor at my brother's feet.

"What is it, Castiel?" Michael said, he spoke like a leader, strong and powerful.

"Omias has spoken blasphemy!" Castiel proclaimed to the court made of our brothers and sisters. "His beliefs are still as they were before the first fall. He still believes human beings to be disgusting, murderous, mud rats! He refuses to follow the orders of our father!" Michael considered this for a moment.

"What do you say, Omias? Do you deny Castiel's claims?" I looked up from the floor thinking that I could deny it again but I knew the court would not believe me.

"No, Michael. What Castiel says is true. I hate them. Nearly as much as Lucifer hated them. Look at it, look at the earth. Look at what seven billion of them have done to it. It dies every day. Ariel cannot protect it and I do not even believe that father can save it anymore." I said angrily, the court drew in a sharp breath of outrage and surprise and offense but Michael remained calm.

"You have rebelled, Omias. I always knew it would come one day. I hereby banish you from heaven and exile you into hell to serve and suffer before Satan."

When you are cast down, there are a few moments before the spell works. Moments for your last words to the court of Heaven. I looked around at my older brothers and sisters. All strong and brave and powerful and I thought of what a tiny angel I was. I had a knack for annoying my siblings and transforming into animals and humans but I was very weak. I had always known that but now I saw the weakness in Michael.

"You refuse to speak his name. You loved him once and now you fear his wrath and yet you send me to serve him. I go, Michael. I go willingly to serve my brother, Lucifer, in the court of hell!" And then, like a stone in water, I fell from heaven.

It's a long way down and it hurts so much but, as I plummeted toward Hell, I remembered Lucifer's face. And I thought not of revenge but of the love I still had for Lucifer.


	3. Hael's Blindness

Hael

When father created human beings, I bowed before them. I did not question the orders. I made sure that the grass of Earth was soft and the sun warmed their skin and I made sure they were kind to each other. I started spending a lot of time on Earth, helping the humans. Teaching them to be good to each other.

When I returned home, I scurried off to my room to escape Michael's hawk-like gaze. On the rare occasion that he summoned me, it was to give me a new order. Stop a war, end oppression, and make this family happy.

Michael did not understand. I make people be kind and I cannot force them to be fair. I can only give them the chance to be good

I remember the Great Rebellion and the First Fall very clearly. I remember dropping to the floor at Michael's feet and begging for mercy, for kindness upon our siblings.

"Michael, brother, I do not condone the disobedience of our brothers and sisters. They have defied the orders of our Father by refusing to bow to the humans. They refuse to love any above him and so they are to be sentenced to burn for eternity. Please, show mercy. Their only crime is loving our father so much that it blinds them. They have strayed but they are not lost. Please, show mercy."

And Michael looked down at me with that hawk-like gaze and took a deep breath.

"Hael, angel of kindness, you defend your brothers and sisters out of love for them not out of understanding for the law. They have disobeyed our father's highest order and they must be punished. I disregard your argument and if you continue to fight me I will send you to Hell with them."

I was silent then and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Come, Hael. You will not wish to see." Castiel said. He led me from the court and we waited outside in silence for a short time and then Michael opened the doors and the court emptied.

"It is done, Hael. Your compassion is as wide as heaven and earth. Your efforts will not be forgotten."

Michael walked away and the others left the hall eventually. Then it was just Castiel and me.

"Castiel, I have a great pain in my heart."

"Perhaps it is broken."

"Can grace heal a broken heart?"

"Only time can tell but usually it heals crookedly. You will pain over this for a long time and the pain may lessen eventually but it may never go away."

"Why does it hurt so much?"

"It hurts because it mattered. You loved Lucifer and the others as you should. But your love and your kindness are what blind you just as their love blinded them. Goodnight, Hael."

And so Castiel left me alone in the hall with broken heart.


End file.
